Yeah, I mean I am not suggesting that Day should be fired because his spring game format sucks, or anything like that. I'm just making an observation.
In the grand scheme of things the spring game is pretty irrelevant, but it is all that we have cfb-wise between January and September. So an entertaining spring game format would obviously be preferable to one that is as bland as beige paint. Now I know that the days of full on tackle football in the spring game are behind us, and rightfully so, but you can still play an actual game with the "thud tackling" that they are doing instead.
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Breaking down the history of the spring game formats, as far back as I can remember
John Cooper: They played an actual football game. The 1s and 3s were on "Scarlet" while the 2s and deep reserves were on "Grey." At the time it was somewhat maddening that he had the first team offense and defense on the same team instead of going up against each other, as the games would often just be absolute blowouts with the 1s going against the 2s both ways. But today I would sign up for this in a heartbeat, even with the thud tackling.
Jim Tressel: His spring game format was the best one. He divided up the coaching staff and captains, and they would draft teams position by position, and they would generally be evenly matched and you would have good games. The winner got steak, while the loser got hot dogs, iirc.
Urban Meyer: This was the best as far as pure Buckeye entertainment value, not so much for the game itself, but because of the circus atmosphere around it. You had circle drills, and races, and alumni, and distance throwing contests, and everything else. As for the game itself, this was where it began to get a little to practice-y for my liking. Players were switching teams constantly, and FGs were kicked five times in a row moving back incrementally while Urban hoovers over the holder and glares at the kicker, and the clock never stopped running after halftime. But again, sign me up for that all day long over what we had over the weekend. At least they kept score.
Now if I were the unquestioned ruler of CFB, I would eliminate FBS-FCS match ups in the fall, and then require them for spring games. So OSU would bring in Youngstown or whoever else, and play an actual game with the works; fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc.
